Welcome to the blog dedicated to overall well being, mental health, and goal setting skills. "See, Believe, and Achieve" was founded by Ane to share her love for life and focus on promoting positive solutions to deal with every day life/social changes.
If you or someone you know is in immediate crisis please contact your local crisis hotline or 1-800-273-TALK.
Contact us today to book Ane for your next school or community event! We thank you for stopping in!

Ane Romero Featured in Article with "Project UROK"

“I began this work in memory of a close
friend I lost to suicide and in keeping her memory alive, I found my
life’s purpose.” -Ane

How do you support Latinx mental health?

It definitely has been a journey filled with gratitude, where no day
is the same. One day I can be driving three hours out to a rural part of
my state to provide a suicide prevention training for a school. The
next day I’ll be working on mental health policy change. At times it’s
been late nights on a Friday evening (because that’s when a crisis
happens), calling all my mental health contacts to successfully identify
a provider who can take in a new client immediately. Some days it’s
sitting on the sidewalk sharing a sandwich with my friend Aaron, who is
homeless and suffers from mental illness–hoping that our conversation
will get him to agree to see a provider. It’s nights filled with
frustration over our broken mental health system and broken policies
that don’t help Aaron.
Then there are the days where I’m in the middle of providing a youth
suicide prevention training and see a big smile run across a young
girl’s face and hear her say how grateful she is to learn how to help a
friend in crisis. All of this keeps me going. Advocacy has taught me to
never take no for an answer when it comes to fighting for access to
services for others in need and it has filled my life with beautiful
people who inspire and have changed me for the better. I began this work
in memory of a close friend I lost to suicide when I was
thirteen-years-old and in keeping her memory alive, I found my life’s
purpose.

What are some of the biggest myths you’ve heard about Latinx mental health? How do you dispel these myths and fight stigma?

The “one-size fits all” approach for providing mental health
resources/services for the Latinx communities is definitely a something
that needs to be worked on. We are a beautiful and multifaceted culture
and the treatment should be reflective of that. Those in our community
should have the ability to access services in their native language and
meet with a therapist who understands and appreciates the culture.
Asking for help is not easy, so we need to do everything possible to
create an environment in which the individual will want to continue with
their treatment. The best way to dispel these myths and rid the stigma
is to encourage more Latinx individuals to become the mental health
providers and therapists.

What are some tips you give to young Latinx with mental health concerns?

Never be afraid or ashamed to ask for help and never let anyone
discourage you from getting help. No matter how tough the road gets, do
not give up and know that you’re never alone.

What are some resources you suggest for the Latinx community?

I have been very fortunate to cross paths with some of the very best
mental health champions like my former boss, Congresswoman Grace F.
Napolitano (California District 32) and Dr. Luis Garcia from Pacific
Clinics Behavioral Health Clinic (Santa Fe Springs, CA). Together they
started a youth suicide prevention program in Southern California, which
works directly with Latinx students and their families. Not only are
services provided in English and Spanish, but it is a requirement for
families to learn the ins and outs of mental health together. Realizing
the barriers that many parents face in raising a family, clinicians put
washers and dryers at one of their facilities so parents could get
errands done while their child was receiving services. These are the
small things that make a difference and have the most impact.
Congresswoman Napolitano is also the founder and chair of the
Congressional Mental Health Caucus in Washington, DC and has worked and
partnered with numerous mental health organizations to create policy
change. The National Latino Behavioral Health Association (NLBHA) is
another wonderful organization I have worked with in the past. They
focus directly on Latinx mental health and also work towards raising
scholarship funds for Latinx youth who are going into the field of
mental health.
Follow Ane on Twitter and Facebook.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Part of our new format for See, Believe, & Achieve is our guest blogger series. These are individuals from around the world who are part of our SBA family and who have put together mental health and wellness tips to share with our readers. What I really love about this new addition is that it really adds to our mission of creating an online mental health community and allows us all to learn new ways to stay and be healthy in so many ways.

Our first guest blogger for SBA is Jennifer Scott. In reading over e-mails, I came across her note and was very honored to "meet" someone who was open and willing to share some insight with readers. Thank you, Jennifer for being part of our See, Believe, & Achieve family and THANK YOU for taking the time to share this insightful and helpful post.

If you have some mental health and wellness tips you'd like to share with our readers, feel free to contact us!

Did you hear that? It's the sound of me whooshing the dust of this
ol' blog. A lot of life has happened since my last post, but it's what
is happening now that has moved me to put thought to keyboard. The
uproar of Netflix's new series, "13 Reasons Why" has left me conflicted
on so many levels. So, I'm going to do my best to use this post as a
means to address it.

A
few weeks ago, I heard about a new series called, "13 Reasons Why." The
story line is narrated by a teenage girl named Hannah Baker. With the
opening scene viewers learn that she has died by suicide and each
episode gives a clue as to the reasons why on cassette tapes. The heavy topics depicted in the show on
mental health, suicide, substance abuse, date rape, sexual harassment,
and domestic violence are all something we should be addressing more of.
Suicide is now the the 3rd leading cause of death for youth 14-25 years
old. Sadly, in my home state of New Mexico suicide…

About Me

Ane Romero was raised in Las Vegas, New Mexico and currently resides in Washington, DC. She received her B.A. in Political Science and M.P.A from New Mexico Highlands University, where she served as the first female elected Student Body President and was appointed to the New Mexico Commission on Higher Education. Ane is trained and certified in suicide prevention through The Yellow Ribbon Suicide Prevention Program and has provided trainings for schools, communities, including the Navajo Reservation. In 2005, she was crowned Miss New Mexico and competed at the national Miss America Pageant. Ane has spoken nationally on behalf of mental health related issues, such as the Mental Health Parity Act in Washington, DC and served as the national spokesperson for the 1-800-YOUTHLINE. In 2011 she was awarded the “National Excellence in Federal Government Leadership Award” by the National Resource Center for Hispanic Mental Health for her work in mental health policy. While still in college, she authored, NM Senate Joint Memorial 61, which became one of only four pieces of mental health legislation to pass the New Mexico State Legislature.